The 7th
Destination: a journey unfolding the path of
seventy times sevenis a maiden novel
by Dr. Benazir Patil who is a development specialist by profession. Being born
in India, she has been working with several social development organizations
both in India and internationally. She has been associated with humanitarian
works and has directly touched the lives of the discriminated and
disadvantaged. She is a PhD in Public Health Policy and is the author of many
academic books.

Khudabakhsh, the protagonist of the novel
is an orphan brought up by Zeba, who was a magnanimous story-teller with
mystical stories related with Prophets and Saints. She had a bundles of stories
based on moral & ethical values. Her stories always astonish him and he
wanted to hear them again, and again to keep them afresh in his memory. This
was the base which shaped his personality and formed him into a noble human
being.

The
novel is about exploring the world through mysticism guided by divine spirit of
the holy text; Ketab-e-Hayaat. The
entire life of Khudabaksh was guided by the seven principles of Ketab-e-Hayaat as he himself says:

Guided by the seven
principles that the Ketaab-e-Hayaat

had revealed, the most
fervent to me was about connectivity.

So it was with the
places. I had no clue if I was here to fill

my mind with some
comfort or there existed a connection

that took me there. I
had asked this to myself often, but I

could not dwell on it
long, precisely because I lived by my

heart. (4)

He is a wanderer by heart who just knew the journey
he had to reach. He took a journey from Alvands to the seventh destination in
an unstoppable way. For him it was a voyage, clearly undefined but somewhat
determined and it had only emerged out of the longing to explore the obvious.
The author speaks through the voice of protagonist:

I had no choice; the
almighty had made His decisions. Long

years, He had created
me in His own image and on the

seventh day. He had
gifted me the whole universe. His most

unwavering determination
was to pour all His attributes

into me, for me to
understand the power of seventy times

seven. (ix)

After leaving from his native place, Hamadan he just
walked and walked throughout his journey and never halted and if so than only
for sometimes and he soon resumed the act of exploring the world. He had to
face the various facets of life which was nothing but threads of intricately
woven destiny which kept on appearing over and over again. The definiteness of
this feeling always baffled him. His confrontation with Ayesha was yet another
bewilderment of the eternity. He took a journey of fourteen years from Hamadan
to reach his seventh destination; Fatehpur Sikri. After reaching there, his
search for God was over. Zeba, a cosmic boon had played a distinct role in the
life of Khudabakhsh.

The
novel reflects author’s deep knowledge of all the religions and the commonness
which different religions possess. She has taken extract from many religious
texts in the novel as the following lines of the Holy Quran, the sacred text of
Muslims reflects:

“The characteristics of a human are actually the qualities and traits

that God possesses and these are merely reflected in human nature

when you observe human being closely. God has immeasurable

qualities and you read about it in scriptures coming down to us

from antiquity; you find a vivid description of it in almost every

holy book; ninety-nine of these are mention in the holy Quran also,”
(137)

She has discussed on various nature which human
being possesses in the novel, The 7th
Destination as in the end she speaks about sin:

“People sin, and the nature of their deeds is acknowledged by their

conscience alone, many of them sin only to realize their own

inabilities and incapacities to measure strength but they forget

that human life is transitory and so are their emotions, one moment

they rejoice and other they regret. That is what is said, when life

hammers you, rejoice not in the pain of the strike but in the depth

of its effect. (303)

We live in an age of extreme professionalism and
materialism, where there is vulgarity, obscenity, nakedness and physical urge
in the name of love, but in the novel, Benazir has depicted pure love; Platonic
love. She has laid stress on holistic peace and purity, which
is indeed remarkable and makes the novel, a masterpiece.
The novel is very mystical in approach as from the beginning till the end it
seems that we are in a journey of mystery, spirit and soul. She is a writer who
seems to writes from the depth of her mind, heart and even soul.